Phrenology: Victorian Entertainment

 
Phrenology is the study of lumps on heads to determine personality traits. While, producing giggles from us today, phrenology started out as a scientific discipline determined to link scull size and shape with brain function. A German scientist, Franz Joseph Gall is typically credited with starting this branch of study in 1796 which he termed "Cranioscopy."







 
He started writing "The Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System in General, and of the Brain in Particular, with Observations upon the possibility of ascertaining the several Intellectual and Moral Dispositions of Man and Animal, by the configuration of their Heads," in 1809 although it was not published until 1819. The theory was never widely accepted by scientists but had a significant following and was extremely popular with the general public in the early to mid 1800s. It also saw a revival in the early 1900s. While many people were believers, others considered it a fun parlor game.

The Bronte sisters, Edgar Allen Poe,  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Herman Melville, used phrenology references in their works or were believers. A Phrenological examination of Charlotte Bronte can be found here at Phrenology.org. 

Mark Twain disdained the theory and believers. In in his 1906 autobiography he admitted to going to a renowned phrenologist under a false name and receiving an examination and chart of his characteristics. He  then went back to the same phrenologist months later under his real name. He admitted the second chart expressed his personality rather well but that it looked nothing like the first chart that he got.




The Basics of Phrenology from Mrs. Hale's Receipts for the Million (1857):

  
Makes you want to grab a pair of forceps and measure your head, doesn't it? This sounds like it would be a fun party game for a Victorian themed party.

A Short History of Chester County, Pennsylvania

Image of William Penn from LOC

If you look at the link bar under my banner, there is a new page link "A Short History of Chester County." This is part of a paper that I had to write for school. It's not the best paper and jumps around, due to the removal of nonessential information that I had to add to meet the requirements of the paper.  It should be interesting to people who live in the area.






 
I initially intended to expand upon these excerpts to make this work more meaningful for the historic sites in Chester County but have been very busy lately. This information is still interesting when trying to place a historical building  into a context.  In the future I may expand this to include some historic sites in Chester County and 18th and 19th century farming practices. Most of the additions will be focused around the Pratt House.

For those of you interested in the Pratts, here's a sneak peak:

In 1774, tax records report that Joseph Pratt:

• Had 180 acres of land.
• Had the most horses in Edgmont at 5.
• Had the most cattle in Edgmont at 8.
• Had the most sheep in Edgmont at 12.
• Had 1 servant. 5 other men in the township had 1 servant and 1 man in the township had 2 servants.

Hope you check out the Short History of Chester County and enjoy!

The Rebel Yell: Recording of the Rebel Yell

 A quick post before I go off to take a midterm. Smithsonian put out a video of Civil War veterans giving a rebel yell in the 1930s. It was years after the war and the men were much older, but it still gives us a pretty good idea of how it sounded.

I once was lucky enough to have an older gentleman demonstrate the yell for me. Clearly he was not a veteran of the war himself, but in his childhood he frequented veteran conventions. He said that the veterans in his town taught the young boys how to do it and that the young boys had great fun sneaking out at night and using it to cause a ruckus. 

I wasn't sure if he was doing it correctly, because he was elderly but I remember that it had breaks in the sound, just like in this video. At the reenactments I've been to, the Rebels typically make it a "rolling yell" with no distinct breaks in the sound.

Click the link below to view the video:

What Did the Rebel Yell Sound Like?

How to Make Civil War Period Corset Ties

 "My! I'm so uncomfortable; I've broke my stay-lace, and I have not got another. You couldn't lend me one, Betsy, could you?" said a young woman to her next-door neighbour, as, early one morning, they were both cleaning their door-steps.

'No,' replied Betsy,  'I haven't got a spare one; but there's the boy we get our matches and black-lead from; I dare say he'll get you one in a jiffey.'" - Hogg's Weekly Instructor, 1845

 Been looking for period laces for your corset? Or laces for your shoes or boots? You're in luck because they are very easy to make. I've been meaning to replace those awful modern shoelaces I've been using to fasten my corset.

During the 1850s and 60s, laces were made by machines but making laces was a cottage industry for frugal families. Poor girls in charity institutions were taught to make them as a way to make a bit of money and stay laces and boot laces were  popular street vendor items.

Cast on three stitches.

Slide the stitches to the right end of the needle.

Knit into the stitches normally. Slide the stitches to the right of the needle.

Repeat until you reach the necessary length and cast off.

Stay lace made with crochet cotton.

 Boot and shoe laces were made exactly the same way. This lace can also be used for creating frog fasteners as most modern frog style fasteners are made from synthetic materials. There are numerous instructions available for knitted laces and it is pretty much a universal pattern. In modern times, we call this an "i cord." 

Tintype

We got our tintype in the mail. I wish I would have thought to take off my apron. Andy doesn't like the fact that he isn't wearing his glasses and the fact that his blue eyes look white. My sister says that I didn't get the "angry stare" down. :D

I recommend getting an image taken although it is expensive, it was a lot of fun and didn't take as long a time as people say it does. The whole process is long, but the taking the image is done in a few seconds. It's a long exposure time by modern standards but not unreasonable.